FAIRCHILD GARDEN CELEBRATES THE MANGOS OF MEXICO

Thursday, June 13, 2013

FAIRCHILD GARDEN CELEBRATES THE MANGOS OF MEXICO

AT 2013 INTERNATIONAL MANGO FESTIVAL

Coral Gables, FL, June 13, 2013 – Did you know Mexico has both rainy and dry seasons that make for a great mango growing climate? Or that Mexico is the dominant supplier of mangos to the U.S. and a main supplier to markets worldwide? Come learn this and more at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden’s21st Annual International Mango Festival on Saturday, July 13 and Sunday, July14 from 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Enjoy two full days of fun, food and education in celebration of the juicy and delicious tropical fruit that makes for nutritious and refreshing summer dishes. Whether you’re participating in the world’s only mango auction, voting on your favorite variety at the Mango Tasting Room or sampling delicious mango dishes, there’s something for the whole family to do.

The Garden House will be overflowing with mangos at the Mangos of the World Display, where you can see the different shapes, sizes and colors of the hundreds of cultivars presented. On Saturday from 9:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., Miami’s top chefs are dishing out samples of their unique mango eats. On Sunday at 3:00 p.m., guests can participate in the world’s only mango auction led by Dr. Richard Campbell, Fairchild’s senior curator of tropical fruit. For $1, you can enter the Mango Tasting Room and vote on which freshly cut cultivar tastes best. Vendors and food trucks will also have plenty of mango dishes and products up for purchase. For those in need of some relaxation, Rina Yoga will have an outdooryoga class for adults at 11:00 a.m. and kids at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Screenings of the documentary “Viva Mango,” which explores the mango world and those involved in it will show in the Glasshouse Café throughout the festival. It will inspire you purchase a mango tree at the Curator’s Choice mango tree sale, where you can select from the best mango trees, carefully curated by Fairchild’s experts. You can also attend lectures and workshops to learn how to make your new mango tree thrive. Watch the chef demos led by culinary experts from restaurants like Khong River House to take notes on the best ways to serve up delicious dishes for when your mango trees are in bloom. Have questions about caring for your plants? Fairchild staff will be on hand to give answers at the Mango Medic area.

To learn how to grow commercially successful mango crops, attend the Mango Festival Grower’s Summit on Saturday, July 13 from 2:15 p.m. – 4 p.m. in the new DiMare Science Village. The $50 registration fee includes entrance to both days of the festival. Hear from worldwide experts who will talk about pruning, harvesting and keeping mangos free of diseases so you can effectively produce and sell your own.

To savor the unique flavors of mangos, attend the Mango Brunch during the festival on Sunday, July 14 at 11:00 a.m. Chefs from some of the most talked about restaurants in South Florida – Oak Tavern, Eating House and Blue Collar, to name a few – will prepare their best mango dishes to serve along with Spanish wine courtesy of Cerdá, Llanos y Cía. The brunch is a fundraiser for Fairchild’s Tropical Fruit Program and the Fairchild Farm. Tickets are $100 for members and $125 for non-members and are available online or by phone at 305-667-1651, ext. 3344.

Admission is free for Fairchild members and children 5 and under, $25 for adults, $18 for seniors 65 and up and $12 for children 6-17. Eco discounts are available for anyone who walks, bikes or takes public transportation to the festival. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is located at 10901 Old Cutler Road, Coral Gables, FL 33156.

Established in 1938 and comprising 83 acres in Miami, Fla., Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to exploring, explaining and conserving the world of tropical plants. The world-renowned plant collections feature palms, cycads, orchids, tropical fruit trees and more. Fairchild has the largest education program of any metropolitan area, reaching more than 200,000 schoolchildren each year with environmental programs like The Fairchild Challenge. It aims to inspire a greater knowledge and love for plants and gardening so that all can enjoy the beauty and bounty of the tropical world. Special events include Chocolate, Mango, Orchid and Edible Garden Festivals in addition to an annual art exhibition, concerts, plant sales and more. Fairchild is located at 10901 Old Cutler Road, Coral Gables, FL

Don’t miss this chance to experience the Garden with its stunning late afternoon glowing landscapes leading into a full moonrise. Ms. Drevich will offer effective techniques to take stunning photos of the winter sunset then leading into the moonrise using your iPhone. Students will then spend time creatively processing their images with a few choice Apps in the classroom.

Identify, observe, sketch, and paint the many different types of beautiful local and migratory birds found at Fairchild. This wonderful class provides a great opportunity for artists of all levels to learn more about the lifestyles of birds while they develop and practice important drawing and watercolor techniques including washes and dry brush detail work. Students will create beautiful bird studies that also include feathers and nests of birds that call Fairchild home.

Take advantage of this great opportunity for artists with previous watercolor experience to explore the mysterious and delicious world of mushrooms! Students will create a palette with a wide range of neutral browns and grays to show form and texture as they create delicate studies of various mushrooms. Be ready to forage along the grounds in the shady areas of the Garden, following a tropical shower in search of Fairchild’s mushrooms.

The key to building beautiful gardens in South Florida relies heavily on choosing the right building materials for your application and applying common sense construction techniques to your garden design. Miami landscape designer, Carlos Somoza, will present both natural and man-made building material alternatives including locally quarried and imported stone, precast pavers, and tropical hardwood decking.

Join us for a celebration of all things Fairchild at our 2018 Members’ Day. The Annual Meeting highlights the accomplishments and activities of the past year in the Garden, plus the features and fun Fairchild members can look forward to in the coming year. Refreshments and tram tours are offered.

Sandy, past president of South Florida Orchid Society and the Orchid Society of Coral Gables, will share her tips and techniques to successfully purchase, grow and enjoy orchids. Cultural requirements for common orchids will be addressed, with demonstrations of dividing and repotting orchids, how to choose potting materials and types of orchid pots and mounts.

Learn to make your orchid paintings come alive by delving into their mysterious world. Learn the stories behind the pollinators and discover their role in the unique fashion, form, and function of an orchid bloom.

Make a splash and delve into the underwater world of aquatic plants found in the ponds at Fairchild! Students will explore, observe, and sketch on location throughout the grounds of the Garden and then return to the studio to create beautiful botanical studies in graphite and watercolors of the lovely lotus and water lilies.

This new class is for both novices and experienced artists. Our experienced illustrator, Leo Hernandez, will guide students in the realistic representation of plants with an emphasis on combining them with other natural subjects such as wildlife.

Do you have a plant in your garden that you aren't familiar with? Or, perhaps are looking to find out its origins and how it came to South Florida? If so, bring your specimen to Fairchild’s Herbarium and let our scientists uncover its secrets! Bring a cutting from your plant to Fairchild’s Herbarium team on the first Friday of every month at 1:00 p.m. and participate in our Plant Identification Workshop.

Don’t miss this chance to experience the Garden with its stunning late afternoon glowing landscapes leading into a full moonrise. Ms. Drevich will offer effective techniques to take stunning photos of the winter sunset then leading into the moonrise using your iPhone. Students will then spend time creatively processing their images with a few choice Apps in the classroom.

Identify, observe, sketch, and paint the many different types of beautiful local and migratory birds found at Fairchild. This wonderful class provides a great opportunity for artists of all levels to learn more about the lifestyles of birds while they develop and practice important drawing and watercolor techniques including washes and dry brush detail work. Students will create beautiful bird studies that also include feathers and nests of birds that call Fairchild home.

Take advantage of this great opportunity for artists with previous watercolor experience to explore the mysterious and delicious world of mushrooms! Students will create a palette with a wide range of neutral browns and grays to show form and texture as they create delicate studies of various mushrooms. Be ready to forage along the grounds in the shady areas of the Garden, following a tropical shower in search of Fairchild’s mushrooms.

The key to building beautiful gardens in South Florida relies heavily on choosing the right building materials for your application and applying common sense construction techniques to your garden design. Miami landscape designer, Carlos Somoza, will present both natural and man-made building material alternatives including locally quarried and imported stone, precast pavers, and tropical hardwood decking.

Join us for a celebration of all things Fairchild at our 2018 Members’ Day. The Annual Meeting highlights the accomplishments and activities of the past year in the Garden, plus the features and fun Fairchild members can look forward to in the coming year. Refreshments and tram tours are offered.

Sandy, past president of South Florida Orchid Society and the Orchid Society of Coral Gables, will share her tips and techniques to successfully purchase, grow and enjoy orchids. Cultural requirements for common orchids will be addressed, with demonstrations of dividing and repotting orchids, how to choose potting materials and types of orchid pots and mounts.

Learn to make your orchid paintings come alive by delving into their mysterious world. Learn the stories behind the pollinators and discover their role in the unique fashion, form, and function of an orchid bloom.

Make a splash and delve into the underwater world of aquatic plants found in the ponds at Fairchild! Students will explore, observe, and sketch on location throughout the grounds of the Garden and then return to the studio to create beautiful botanical studies in graphite and watercolors of the lovely lotus and water lilies.

This new class is for both novices and experienced artists. Our experienced illustrator, Leo Hernandez, will guide students in the realistic representation of plants with an emphasis on combining them with other natural subjects such as wildlife.

Do you have a plant in your garden that you aren't familiar with? Or, perhaps are looking to find out its origins and how it came to South Florida? If so, bring your specimen to Fairchild’s Herbarium and let our scientists uncover its secrets! Bring a cutting from your plant to Fairchild’s Herbarium team on the first Friday of every month at 1:00 p.m. and participate in our Plant Identification Workshop.